Intentions to Marry, 1897 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840411, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 25 2025

1897 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 486

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1897

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

207

15 April 1897

Edwin Noel Hoofte
Rachel Mary Berry

Edwin Noel Hoyte
Rachel Mary Berry
💍 1897/4873

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

32
38

Auckland
Greymouth

10 years
4 years

Epiphany Church, Newton

97/1192

15 April 1897

Rev. W. E. Lush, Church of England

No	207
Date of Notice	15 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Noel Hoofte	Rachel Mary Berry
BDM Match (94%)	Edwin Noel Hoyte	Rachel Mary Berry
	💍 1897/4873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	32	38
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Greymouth
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Epiphany Church, Newton
Folio	97/1192
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Lush, Church of England

208

20 April 1897

Thomas Shigh Bakewell
Amy Florence Foulstone

Thomas Hugh Frescheville Bakewell
Amy Florence Goulstone
💍 1897/4872

Widower
Spinster

Clerk

33
31

Helensville
Auckland

5 years
14 years

House of M. Foulstone, Park Road

97/1191

20 April 1897

Rev. H. H. Lawry, Wesleyan

No	208
Date of Notice	20 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Shigh Bakewell	Amy Florence Foulstone
BDM Match (75%)	Thomas Hugh Frescheville Bakewell	Amy Florence Goulstone
	💍 1897/4872
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Helensville	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	14 years
Marriage Place	House of M. Foulstone, Park Road
Folio	97/1191
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Lawry, Wesleyan

209

20 April 1897

William Patrick Dowling
Lily Reinhardt

William Patrick Dowling
Lily Reinhardt
💍 1897/1088

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

24
19

Kawa Kawa
Auckland

4 years
4 months

St. Benedict's Church

97/1925

Charles Reinhardt, father

20 April 1897

Rev. B. O. Gallagher, Roman Catholic

No	209
Date of Notice	20 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Patrick Dowling	Lily Reinhardt
	💍 1897/1088
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Kawa Kawa	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	97/1925
Consent	Charles Reinhardt, father
Date of Certificate	20 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. O. Gallagher, Roman Catholic

210

20 April 1897

Thomas William Edlington
Margaret Ellen Blackwell

Thomas William Edlington
Margaret Ellen Blackwell
💍 1897/4856

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

35
39

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
39 years

House of M. Carroll, Hobson Street

97/1198

20 April 1897

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Wesleyan Methodist

No	210
Date of Notice	20 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Edlington	Margaret Ellen Blackwell
	💍 1897/4856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	39
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	39 years
Marriage Place	House of M. Carroll, Hobson Street
Folio	97/1198
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Wesleyan Methodist

211

20 April 1897

John Richard Jones
Margaret Amelia Jones

John Richard Jones
Margaret Amelia Jones
💍 1897/4864

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

28
37

Cabbage Bay
Auckland

1 year
2 weeks

House of M. Dickie, Wellesley Street

97/1207

20 April 1897

Rev. W. G. Thomas, Wesleyan

No	211
Date of Notice	20 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richard Jones	Margaret Amelia Jones
	💍 1897/4864
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	37
Dwelling Place	Cabbage Bay	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	2 weeks
Marriage Place	House of M. Dickie, Wellesley Street
Folio	97/1207
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Thomas, Wesleyan

212

20 April 1897

William Roderick Beanclere Bagge
Edith Lilian Von Sturmer

William Roderick Branchie Bagge
Edith Lilian Von Sturmer
💍 1897/4696

Bachelor
Spinster

Architect

25
23

Wellington
Auckland

5 years
7 years

Bishop's Court, Parnell

97/1216

20 April 1897

Rev. G. McMurray, Church of England

No	212
Date of Notice	20 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Roderick Beanclere Bagge	Edith Lilian Von Sturmer
BDM Match (94%)	William Roderick Branchie Bagge	Edith Lilian Von Sturmer
	💍 1897/4696
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Architect
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Bishop's Court, Parnell
Folio	97/1216
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. McMurray, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).